


No Dominion

by TamscendingGender



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Grief/Mourning, Let Molly And Caleb Be Happy!!!!!, M/M, Resurrection, Sort Of, spoilers for episode 26
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 19:36:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18723589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TamscendingGender/pseuds/TamscendingGender
Summary: Molly wakes up after the ambush to find that Caleb jumped in front of Lorenzo's glaive and saved Molly's life...at the cost of his own. As he wrestles with his grief and the revelation that his feelings for Caleb were, in fact, reciprocated, a certain Champion of the Raven Queen offers Caleb's shade a deal....





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I can't write summaries to save my life. This came to me in the middle of watching Infinity War with my friend yesterday and, despite the fact that I'm working on another fic, I just had to write it. Side note: I have listened to one (1) episode of Campaign 1 and so I probably didn't quite get Vax's voice right whoops. 
> 
> Title comes from "And Death Shall Have No Dominion" by Dylan Thomas, specifically the line: "Though lovers be lost, love shall not; And death shall have no dominion."

Molly came to consciousness slowly and painfully. His head hurt, his chest hurt, his  _ everything _ hurt. He shut his eyes against the bright early morning sun and grimaced, trying to remember what had happened. How had he gotten here? Had the battle...oh. Right. Lorenzo. He remembered. They had killed one of Lorenzo’s people, hadn’t they? He had gotten some good blows in, and Beau had too. Lorenzo had almost overpowered them, from what he remembered. Molly had tried to use his blood maledict, but...he had been too weak. It had been too much. He remembered his vision darkening, Lorenzo looming over him, the glaive raised,  _ Caleb screaming his name. _ He opened his eyes again.  _ Caleb _ . He sat up and looked around.

He was sitting on the grass, beside the hill on the right side of the road. He turned, looking for his friends, and found them. Most of them. Nott and Beau were sitting across from each other, and Keg was facing away from them, her head down, staring at the ground. Nott and Beau looked exhausted. There was blood streaking Beau’s face. Molly probably looked no better. But where was Caleb? 

_ He probably went to get firewood.  _ Molly told himself, shoving away the bad thoughts.  _ He went to do something. He’s going to come back around that hill soon. Don’t worry. _

“Hey, Molly.” Beau said, her voice rough and quiet. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit.” Molly said. “Where’d Caleb go off to?” Beau and Nott stared at him, awful expressions on both of their faces. Something cold and sick curled in his stomach.

“Oh,  _ Molly _ .” Nott whispered, and tears started pouring down her face. Molly had never seen her cry before. 

“Where’s Caleb?” he asked. “ _ Where is Caleb _ ?” Beau had started crying, too. Molly had never thought he would see Beau cry. He leapt to his feet. “Caleb?!  _ Caleb! _ ” 

“He’s gone, Molly.” Beau whispered. “He’s gone. Lorenzo...he…”

“No. No! You’re lying. He’s not gone. He can’t be gone. He’s...he’s Caleb!” Molly exclaimed. He stared wildly around the space, and he saw it. Caleb’s coat. It was lying a few feet away from them, next to a hole in the ground. It was covering something. It felt like no time at all before Molly was kneeling beside Caleb, staring down at him.

He could have been sleeping. His eyes were closed, and a few stray strands of hair fell into his face. There was blood smeared across one side of his mouth, trickling down into his beard. He looked so  _ peaceful. _

“Caleb,  _ Caleb _ , c’mon, Caleb.” Molly whispered, cupping Caleb’s face in his hands. “Wake up, Caleb, c’mon, I’m fine, I’m fine now, you’re going to be fine, we just have to find Jester and she’ll heal you up, come on, Caleb, please,  _ please _ .” Tears started rolling down his cheeks and splashing onto Caleb’s face. 

“He saved your life.” Beau said thickly, coming up behind him. “He jumped in front of Lorenzo’s glaive. I don’t even know how he moved that fast.” Molly curled his fingers into Caleb’s coat, trying to stop them from shaking. He opened his mouth and instead of words, instead of whatever he could have said to Beau, a strangled wail came pouring out of him. He had nothing else. There was nothing else. Caleb was  _ gone _ . He buried his face in Caleb’s chest, shaking, tears pouring down his face. 

“Caleb.” he moaned into the fabric. “ _ Caleb _ .” Someone’s hand was on his back, but he didn’t care. He let out another strangled sob that turned into another, and another, and he was crumpled onto the ground now, clinging to Caleb, shaking. Caleb didn’t move. Caleb wouldn’t move again.

“Hey, hey, Molly.” Beau was saying. “We need to leave him, now. We have to go after the...the bastards who did this. We need to get Fjord and Jester and...and Yasha back. We can come back to him.” Molly shook his head. He didn’t want to leave Caleb. “I know...I know…” Her voice cracked, and she stopped talking. Someone else joined them; another, smaller hand rested on Molly’s back. 

“He was so brave, my boy was.” Nott said. “I don’t think he thought about what he was doing, he just...he just ran. He...he loved you so much. He just...he was…” Molly looked up at her, staring straight into her eyes. 

“He...he loved...me?” he whispered, his words strangled by tears. Nott nodded, her eyes brimming over. 

“I told him he should tell you, but he never did.” she whispered. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Molly turned back to Caleb, to Caleb’s body.

“I was a coward, Caleb.” he said shakily. “I should have...I was going to tell you. Last night. But I didn’t. I didn’t. Why didn’t I just  _ tell _ you? Why couldn’t I do that?” He started to shake again, the tears flooding down his cheeks and into his mouth and onto the grass. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I should have stopped him. You shouldn’t have...I should have…” He stopped, shoulders shaking. “ _ I love you, Caleb. _ ” he whispered, his voice so hoarse that it barely made a sound. “I love you so much. You were...you are...were...oh,  _ fuck _ . You were my everything. My sun and my moon and my stars and I  _ never fucking told you.  _ I’m sorry. I failed you. I let him...I shouldn't…” He broke down again, sobs shaking his body. 

“We...we need to bury him.” Beau said softly. Molly stared up at her. “We have to go. We’ll come back. I promise.” Molly nodded slowly and looked down at Caleb’s still face. He wiped the blood away from Caleb’s mouth, brushed the hair from his face with shaking hands. He didn’t want to let him go. He didn’t want to, but he had to. They had to go after Lorenzo. They had to kill him for what he had done.

“I love you.” he said again, the words cracking. “I love you, Caleb Widogast. I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving you. I swear it. I...I’m going to kill that motherfucker for you. I couldn’t this time. I…” He sighed, then leaned forward and kissed Caleb on the lips. “I’ll be back.” he whispered. He straightened up and watched as Nott tucked the coat around Caleb, kissed him once on the forehead. He watched as Beau lowered Caleb into the shallow grave they had hacked out of the cold winter ground, and he watched as Keg came to help them shove dirt into the hole. He sat there watching them, tears rolling down his cheeks. Beau took a stick from the edge of the woods and stuck it straight up over the grave, as a marker. 

“Here.” Nott said, handing Molly a bundle of dark blue, soft fabric. “He would...he would want you to have something to remember him with. This is his scarf.” Molly took it and started down at it. It was dirty, and needed a good patching, but it was  _ Caleb’s _ . He hugged it to his chest and stared down at the grave.

“Come on. Let’s go.” Beau said, squeezing his shoulder. “We’ll be back.” Molly let her pull him to his feet and followed her away down the road, back to the horses, away from Caleb. He didn’t look back. He couldn’t. If he looked, he would lose control of himself and run back and never leave. 

 

\------

 

He didn’t say a word for their entire journey to Shady Creek Run. The others talked quietly to themselves, shooting glances back at him, but he stayed within himself, wrapped up in his grief. He had never lost someone before, not like this. He was sure Lucien must have, but those were not his memories. It hurt worse than any wound he had ever received, worse than  _ anything _ . He barely even noticed when Nila joined them, and he was sure he wouldn’t have if she hadn’t come over to him and given him one of her goodberries. It helped, a little bit. He wasn’t aching all over anymore. Not physically, anyway. 

Nott took on the role of taking care of him. He had questioned her self-proclaimed position as Caleb’s mother, but later, when his brain wasn’t full of fog, he finally accepted it. She made sure he was eating and sleeping, and woke him up from the throes of a horribly vivid nightmare where he watched Caleb being impaled over and over and over again. She had never hugged him before, but she did that night, rocking him back and forth while he cried into her shoulder. Neither of them could go back to sleep, so she braided his hair and rambled about what she wanted to do with Jester when they rescued the others. 

When they went to the Mardun house, he stayed back, silent and watching while Beau spoke to Ophelia. Something must have possessed her, because none of them had ever seen her so suave and self-assured. Ophelia tried to talk to Molly, tiefling to tiefling, but he stared at her until she edged away from him, shoving all of his grief and anger into his eyes so she would just  _ leave him alone _ . Nott held his hand while they walked out of the manor and into the woods, and she didn’t let go until she was needed to look for traps. 

They went deep into the woods and found the Blooming Grove, and they were joined by Caduceus Clay, the strange hermit who tended the graves there. He gave them tea and said kind things to them. Molly had never been one for tea, but he drank at least three cups. It made the Caleb-shaped hole in his chest feel a little less cold. Caduceus came with them, and they felt a little better about their chances. 

The assault was a strange, fuzzy blur in Molly’s mind. They assessed the situation, and came up with a plan. Nila went in as a mouse and squeezed her way under the gate, barely managing to avoid the guards. “ _ I wish we had Frumpkin _ .” Beau said, and Molly’s chest tightened with anguished longing. They climbed up the walls and crept into the Sour Nest. Beau lit fireworks, and the fight was on. They ran through dark tunnels and made mincemeat of Lorenzo’s minions. Nila found her family, and they left for freedom. They found the final room, the place where their friend were being kept. They also found Shakäste, and the odds leaned further towards their winning the day. Things started to turn for the worse after that. Lorenzo had powers none of them had expected. They cut down his allies, but he was too much for them. Almost.

It was Molly who struck the final blow. Beau set the stage, and Nott and Keg did a lot to whittle him down, but it was Molly who ultimately killed Lorenzo. He stood there in front of him, blood trickling down the side of his face, and Lorenzo laughed at him. “ _ I almost killed you once, and I can do it again. _ ” he said. “ _ There aren’t any puny little wizards to save you now. _ ” Rage burned in Molly’s chest, and he stared Lorenzo directly in the eyes. “ _ Fuck you.” _ he said, his voice cracking with disuse. “ _ Caleb was hundreds of times the man you could even dream of being. This is for him. This is for him! _ ” He shoved both of his swords up to the hilt in Lorenzo’s chest and watched as the man screamed and crumpled to the floor, blood pouring from his chest. He was dead. 

He probably would have stayed there for hours, staring down at the body, if Nott hadn’t taken his hand and said gently, “ _ Jester’s here. Fjord’s here. Yasha’s here. They’re fine. They’re alive. _ ” He let the little goblin girl give him his swords back and lead him to his friends. He let Jester pull him into the tightest hug he had ever experienced, and he let himself cry into her shoulder. He had thought he had cried all the tears he had in him, but he had so much more in him. 

“ _ I’m sorry we weren’t there. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. _ ” Jester sobbed. Molly shook his head, too tired to say anything. It wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t any of their faults. The man whose fault it was lay dead on the stone floor. The hole in his chest hadn’t been filled, but he wasn’t angry anymore. He was just  _ tired. _

 

\------

 

The winter sun was bright in the sky when they reached the grave again. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue that reminded Molly of Caleb’s eyes. He stood by the side of the road and stared up at it, the ache in his chest throbbing. 

“Are you coming, Molly?” Jester asked softly, stopping to stand next to him.

“Yeah.” he said. “Just...looking at the sky.” Jester took his hand and looked up at it with him. “It reminds me of Caleb.” Molly said finally. 

“He loved you so much.” Jester said. “I know he did. I know things like that.” Molly didn’t say anything, just looked up at the sky and the tops of the trees waving in the cold breeze. A few puffy clouds started to crowd across the sun. He looked back down at Jester, who was smiling up at him, tears pooling in her eyes. 

“Let’s go….let’s go say...goodbye.” Molly said, the last word cracking in his throat. Jester nodded, and they walked slowly to the grave. Nott was carefully placing flowers she and Caduceus had collected over the newly turned earth. There were so many, more than Molly thought could be found at the beginning of winter, but if anyone could find flowers in winter, it was Caduceus. They stood, staring down at the dirt.

“We’re safe now, Caleb.” Jester said to the head of the grave. “Fjord and I, and Yasha. We’re safe. We’re free. You...you helped us get there. Molly killed Lorenzo. And we saw Shakäste, and now we’re going home.” Tears had started to pour down Molly’s face again, splashing over his lips and his nose and onto the grass. “We met a new friend, too. His name’s Caduceus, and he used to live in a graveyard, and I think you’d like him.” She trailed off, her fingers tightening around Molly’s hand and her tail wrapping around his ankle. Nott slipped her hand into Molly’s free hand, and Fjord put his hand on his shoulder. After a beat, Beau put her hand on his other shoulder and squeezed. They stood there, staring down at the flowers in the dirt, holding on to each other. 

“Molly?” Molly turned to see Yasha standing behind them, blinking blearily. “What’s wrong? What happened...where’s Caleb?” Molly ran to her, burying his face in her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him so tightly. He barely heard Jester explaining everything that had happened. Yasha’s grip tightened around him, her hand rubbing his back as he cried into her chest. 

Finally, he wriggled out of Yasha’s embrace and walked to the grave. He pulled off one of his rings, the one with the Moonweaver’s symbol carved into it. 

“Caleb.” he said, his voice shaky. “Caleb, love…” He trailed off, knelt down by the grave, and put his ring next to the grave marker. His tears started falling faster. “I love you.” he whispered. “I love you. I love you. I love you.” Yasha’s hand was on his back, and Nott was holding his hand again. 

“Mardun wants us.” Beau said softly. Molly stood up slowly and took Yasha’s hand. 

“Are you ready to go?” she asked. Molly shrugged.

“I don’t think I ever will be.” he said. Yasha kissed him on the forehead and brushed his hair out of his face. She smiled sadly at him. As they walked back to the cart, Molly pulled Caleb’s scarf out of the pocket he had tucked it into and wrapped it around his neck, dropping Yasha’s hand for a brief second. It didn’t go with his outfit, but he didn’t care. They climbed into the cart, and Caduceus nudged the horses into a walk. Molly glanced over his shoulder to watch the lonely stake disappear around the bend of the road. 

 

\------

 

_ He was in a strange place, full of swirling mists of different colors and the outlines of people floating around. He did not know how long he had been there. That was strange. He usually knew how long things were. Didn’t he? He was having trouble remembering things. The mists swirled around him like a cape, and he waved a translucent hand through them, marveling at the colors. That swirl was purple. He liked it.  _

_ “Hello. Caleb Widogast, is it?” He looked up at the half-elven man who had materialized out of the mists. The man had long black hair full of thin braids and colorful beads framing a pale face, and he was wearing a long flowing black cape covered in feathers.  _

_ “Ja.” Caleb Widogast said. That was his name. He remembered that.  _

_ “Huh.” the man said, flipping through a packet of papers. “Interesting. You are not supposed to be here. One moment.” He waved a hand, and a tall, very handsome man with dark brown skin and long black dreadlocks appeared, holding a similar packet of papers and wearing a similar coat. They conferenced, each growing more concerned. The first man turned back to Caleb, his eyebrows wrinkled together. “I think….we need to figure something out. You should not be here yet. We can work out a deal, I think. Um...I will call my mistress.” He made a motion that a part of Caleb’s brain registered as the movements for Sending. “My lady, we have a...situation. Caleb Widogast is here, but...yes, I know. What should I do? OK. Thank you.” He turned back to Caleb. “Well, it looks like you’re going home. The only condition is…” He cocked his head, the beads jangling against each other. “You will return to us when you have achieved happiness at last.” Caleb blinked at him. That seemed like a fair condition. “Goodbye. I will see you...eventually.” The man raised his hands, and… _

...his hand broke through dirt, and he scrambled his way up and into the fresh air, coughing and sucking in cold, soothing, clean air. He was wearing a long coat, and he was covered in dirt. The ground was strewn with white flowers. He couldn’t remember how he had gotten to be here, under the ground. He couldn’t remember  _ anything. _ He sat up and stared at the pole looming above him. It looked like a grave marker. Something glinted in the sunlight, and his eyes moved down to the base of the pole. In the dirt sat a silver ring. He picked it up, rubbed the dirt from it, and ran a finger over the moon design. It was familiar, but he could not place it. He slid it onto his finger and stood up, brushing as much of the dirt from his clothes as he could. Something in him told him he needed to go south. He turned away from the looming hills and began to walk down the road. 

It took him two weeks to walk from the hills to the city. He did not know why he was going to this city, but something told him it was the right place to be. He found a packet of dried meat and fruit in a pocket of his coat, and he managed to catch rabbits and cook them. He did not know how he knew how to do these things, but they were buried somewhere in his head. On the second day, he found a stream and took a long, much needed bath in it, working the clods of dirt from his hair. It was sunny that day, and warmer than usual, so he washed his clothes as well and lay in the sunlight for hours. He did not see many people on the road, which he was glad of. 

The city was huge and intimidating. He slipped through the gates when the guards weren’t looking, part of him terrified of being seen. The ring was a comfort. When he was feeling particularly anxious, he twisted it around his finger, rubbing over the design with his thumb, drawing out the solace it gave him. He slipped down alleyways and side streets before making camp in a hidden alcove in one of the temples, one with a statue of a tall woman with raven’s wings outside of it. He was not found, somehow, and he was glad of the safety from both people and the elements.

The next morning, he braved the streets again, hoping to find something that would spark his memory. There was a festival of some kind happening, and he stuck to the sides of houses, trying to avoid the crush of the crowds. A small elf girl gave him a flower, and he smiled at her, not sure why she had given him this gift. He tucked it behind his ear and kept moving, his fingers drumming a tattoo into his leg and the ring spinning around his finger. As he was darting through the crowd, something caught his eye and he paused.

There was a fortune teller sitting on the corner of the street, reading a dwarven woman’s fortune. He was a lavender tiefling with chin-length purple hair and large horns that were decorated with glittering bangles. Draped around his shoulders was a fantastic patchwork coat, and he was gesturing dramatically for the eager woman. There was something tired about his rakish grin, and something heavy in the way he moved his hands. The man watched him, and something started to shift in his brain. 

“ _ Remember. _ ” a deep woman’s voice whispered in the back of his mind as the fortune teller looked up at him. Their eyes met, and Caleb Widogast began to shove his way through the crowd. Molly stood up, the cards falling from his hands and scattering on the rug. Caleb started running, and Molly began to run towards him as well. 

“Caleb!” Molly shouted. “Caleb, oh my gods, Caleb, you’re alive,  _ you’re alive. _ ” They met, and Molly swept him up into an embrace, his shoulders shaking with a strange combination of laughter and sobs. Caleb was crying, and Molly was crying, and  _ Molly was kissing Caleb. _ Caleb made a surprised noise, and Molly paused. “I can...are you…I shouldn’t have...”

“ _ Mollymauk _ .” Caleb whispered, pulling him back in for a kiss. Their tears mingled on their lips, tasting of salt. Molly’s hands were warm against Caleb’s back, and his tail was wound tightly around Caleb’s ankle, as if he were afraid Caleb was going to disappear. There were so many people rushing around them, but they didn't matter. There was only their bodies pressed together, their lips, their hands. Caleb tangled his hands in Molly’s hair, clinging to him, not wanting to let go.

“I can’t believe you’re here.” Molly murmured, coming away from the kiss for a moment. “I...I thought I would never see you again. I thought I had lost you for good, and you’re  _ back _ . You’re  _ safe _ . You’re…” He laughed and kissed Caleb on the cheeks. “I love you. I should have told you before...before you died.”

“I know,  _ Schatz.  _ I know.” Caleb said. “I..I love you, too. I love you.”

“I love  _ you. _ ”

“I love you more.”

Molly opened his mouth to reply and was interrupted by another kiss. He smiled against Caleb’s mouth and held him tighter. 

“Molly! Molly?  _ Caleb! _ ” Jester’s voice cut through the buzz of the crowd. “Oh my gods, CALEB!” Caleb reluctantly came away from Molly to turn towards the blur of blue that was hurtling towards him. He was nearly knocked to the ground by Jester’s embrace. Beau and Nott were hot on her heels, and they were soon joined by Yasha and Fjord and a stranger, a tall firbolg with pink hair. He buried his face in Jester’s shoulder, smiling so hard through the tears pouring down his face.

The rest of the day was a whirlwind of questions and stories and shopping and tears. Molly and Nott didn’t leave his side for one second. They went to visit the Gentleman, and to a bookstore to buy Caleb as many books as they could reasonably afford, and to the Invulnerable Vagrant, where Molly and Caleb finally got a quiet moment to themselves while Jester told the Pumats the whole story. They were too giddy with happiness to say much of anything; they just traded kisses and whispered ‘I love yous’ until Nott and Beau found them in the corner they had holed up in. 

“You guys are so sappy and gross.” Beau grumbled affectionately. Molly flipped her off. They bought enough incense for Caleb to bring Frumpkin back, and he spent the rest of the day with his familiar draped around his neck, purring like crazy. 

They spent the evening at a fancy restaurant Jester decided they would go to to celebrate, watching the sun set from the rooftop dining area. Caleb was so tired, and he nearly fell asleep on Molly’s shoulder. Jester was full of energy and performed a very involved dance to the music drifting up from the street for them to the enjoyment of her friends and the irritation of the other customers. Finally, once the waiters asked them to  _ please, stop being so loud, we have very rich customers, _ they spilled out into the street and wandered back to the inn. They made a pit stop at the bakery, and while they were waiting Molly dropped Caleb’s hand to unwind the scarf around his neck. Caleb had barely noticed it, he was so focused on Molly himself.

“This is yours, love.” he said, draping it over Frumpkin. “I was keeping it for you.” Caleb ran his fingers over the threadbare fabric.

“I have something of yours, too.” he said, and tucked the ring into Molly’s hand. Molly looked at it, then took Caleb’s hand and slipped it back onto his finger.

“You can keep it.” he said. “It’ll remind you that I’m always going to love you.” Caleb smiled up at him, and Molly leaned down to kiss him. “Always.”

“We got bear claws!” Jester cheered, kicking the door open and marching back into the street. “And they have cinnamon!” Molly took Caleb’s hand, and they hurried back to their friends to get pastries.


	2. Epilogue: 70 Years Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You thought I would end it there, did you? What kind of an author would I be, leaving loose ends like that?

It was a bright spring day, and the sky was clear but for a few puffy white clouds. In the tangled garden that stretched from the edge of the house to the foot of the porch steps, the flowers were in full bloom, flashing their colors out for all to see. Caleb Tealeaf Widogast smiled, content. His frail old bones rejoiced at the return of warm weather, chasing away the aches that winter always brought. Molly was sleeping, his head tucked on Caleb’s shoulder. The wide patch of grass surrounding their house was filled with the shouts of children and the various adults in charge of them. It was such a peaceful day, the kind that Caleb had once thought he could never have.

So much had happened since he had crawled out of the dirt all those decades ago. They had gone on so many adventures, saved so many lives, fought so many people. After a while, the Mighty Nein had decided to retire from adventuring and settle down. They were scattered across the Empire and beyond now, but they could easily visit thanks to the teleportation circles Caleb had drawn in all of their houses. Molly and Caleb had built a quiet life in Allfield, the small town they had saved at the very beginning of their adventures. It was close enough to the city that they could go for a day of shopping, but it was peaceful. Nothing much happened in Allfield, and that was perfectly fine with Caleb. They had adopted a few children, older kids who most people would overlook, and those children had grown up and had children of their own. There was rarely a day where their house didn’t have at least one child sitting in a corner reading or running around the yard chasing Frumpkin.

Caleb sighed contentedly and leaned his head against Molly’s horn, running an absent finger over the Moonweaver ring on his hand. It was a good day. They had gone for a walk around the area the gnoll mine had been, and Bryce had come to visit, their hair still barely gray. Their daughter and her three kids were visiting, as was Fjord and Jester’s son and his family. As Caleb ran through the day, smiling to himself, a chubby aquamarine tiefling girl who looked exactly like Fjord, bar the dark green horns that curved up over her curly hair, came sprinting around the corner laughing, followed by a tall elf girl with tightly curled black hair and dark brown skin. Caleb chuckled quietly as his granddaughter tackled her cousin and carried her away, both girls cackling with glee. He looked up at the sky. It was going to rain, soon, he could feel it.

“Hello, Caleb.” Caleb blinked. A half-elven man was standing there, his long hair shifting slightly in a wind that Caleb couldn’t feel. 

“ _ Hallo _ . I remember you.” he said. “You work for the Raven Queen. You are the one who sent me back, last time.”

“That’s me.” the man said. “My name is Vax’ildan, but you can call me Vax. I’ve come to collect on that deal we made.” Caleb regarded the younger man. He had forgotten about that. Perhaps it was being dead again that had brought the memory back. 

“You told me I would return to you when I had achieved happiness.” he said. “That happened years ago. Why did you wait so long?”

“You hadn’t achieved it fully.” Vax said. “Now you have. Congratulations!” Caleb looked back at the bench and looked at his body, leaning against Molly.

“Molly will miss me.” he said. “I promised him that I would not leave him again, and I do not want to break that.”

“You didn’t, love.” Caleb turned to see Molly as he had looked when they first met, a smile on his face. “Vax came for me first.” 

“I would never make you break a promise. I’m not like that.” Vax said. “Death is cruel sometimes, but death is also merciful.” Caleb nodded and went to Molly, taking his hand. Some of his hair fell into his vision, and as he pushed it back he saw that it was red again. They smiled at each other.

“We don’t want to keep dear Vax waiting.” Molly said finally. “Are you ready?” Caleb looked back at the house, at the laughing children. He had lived a long life, a good life. It was time to rest.

“ _ Ja, Liebling _ .” he said. “I am ready.” They turned and followed Vax away to whatever was next, colorful flower petals drifting to the grass in their wake. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a sucker for a romantic ending, what can I say? Especially this kind of ending, in which I took Vex and Percy's ending and Magnus' ending and mixed them together in a special pot and threw it out onto the computer. Thank you for reading!! I really appreciate it. <3


End file.
